Fans are starting to wonder when they will get their first glimpse of the Star Trek sequel currently in production. A possibility could be at the annual San Diego Comic Con in July, and now producer/writer Damon Lindelof is saying that the team has a "strong desire" to be there with something to show. Details below.

While promoting Prometheus at Wondercon over the weekend Star Trek sequel co-writer/producer told Slashfilm he hopes to be at Comic Con for the Star Trek sequel, noting:

We have not. There is a very strong desire to do be there. We wrap production in May and Comic Con is in early July, so obviously if there is something worth showing we will show it. And if there is nothing worth showing we will at least be there for people to throw fruits and vegetables and tribbles at us.

If they did do a big Star Trek panel with footage at SDCC it would be the first time. For the last film there was a panel at the 2007 comic con, where the casting of Leonard Nimoy was revealed. But for 2008 (the year before release) there was not big Star Trek panel, although there were some Paramount booth promotions. Instead Paramount chose to do a big panel at the San Francisco Wondercon in early 2009. Hopefully for the 2013 film they don’t wait for Wondercon and they do some kind of reveal at SDCC.

Comic Con will be held July 12-15, 2012 and TrekMovie will be there to cover whatever they show, or to throw some tribbles if they don’t show anything.

VIDEO: Lindelof clears up Alien/Prometheus connection

Here is the video of Lindelof’s comments where he talks a little Trek but mostly about Prometheus.

A marketing plan is a marketing plan, and if kick-off is in July, it will be planned, prepared for, and executed.

JJ’s last teaser was a completely separate piece of film from the awesome trailers that spliced in mostly finished elements from ST09. Let’s hope that there is time for the team to put something together for SDCC (DL obviously wants to). Then, after time, the bit-by-bit reveals come in via sponsorships and toys, real trailers show up, and like the pied piper, we all get led straight to the theaters next year for opening day.

Let’s hope Anthony can set up something similar in May to what he did on the last day of shooting for ST09.

Wish JJ and crew would take a page out out of Bond play book, Skyfall which opens up latter this year, is the same point along in production and Michael Wilson and Barbara Brocolli have no qualms giving us production photos, casting notices etc, with out giving away to much or spoiling.

You dont see Sam Mendes crying or being angry that spy photos shot on public locations around the world have leaked out from skyfall.

And dont even get me started about the 2013 release date, Bond is a even bigger movie in scope,scale and action and were getting that before the end of year, so i really think they could get Trek 12 out by the end of the year without any damage to its quality.

I agree that Bond is a big movie, but that series of movies mostly uses practical special effects, while Star Trek has mostly cgi and that stuff takes time to get to the final versions.

I do agree though, it would seem that the movie’s production would be finished early enough in the year that we should get to see it in Late Sept/Early Oct. Then again with the Hobbit out at the end of this year, and Trek being most successful in the summer, it is probably a good thing that it is waiting… It is a slow wait, yeah, but a smart move.

My prediction: There will be nothing revealed at Comic Con. Maybe at a later convention, probably during the fall, at the earliest. I just don’t know if J.J Abrams is a fan of revealing things at cons. He pretty much had his hand forced in 2007 because of the studio’s need to reboot the franchise. They had to also reveal the cast. This time, nothing has to be revealed, apart from the guest actors, and even then Abrams was clearly reluctant. He had to release that bit of info because of the media leaks, and as a result, he was pissed off.

Why? Because all the major motion pictures for the year ahead promote themselves at SDCC – it is THE place to push your movie, if Trek isn’t there it’s already going to be playing catchup to the films competing with it for box office dominence.

I completely understand why Abrams wants to keep his movies as secret projects and I love that about him and his movies but that shouldn’t stop them promoting it since we already know what many of the basic elements like the exterior of the Enterprise are going to look like – so really the only element to the next movie that should be kept a secret, is the story and the new bits not seen in the first movie.

I’d hope to see the next movie launched at this year’s SDCC with the official title, a teaser trailer, posters, a pannel with the main cast and I think something from Hasbro like a studio scale USS Enterprise toy (similar to their Big AT-AT, Avengers carrier ship and Falcon) that doesn’t give anything new away that may spoil the movie but does get the fans of Trek and Geekdom excied.

I’d also like to see more of the video game and comic books and how they tie into the movie.

If Paramount and Abrams want to see their Star Trek movie take the world by storm then the future has to begin at SDCC 2012…

There were various reports of the “secrecy” during the filming of Skyfall.

But yeah, knowing the rough synopsis of a Bond flick (I’d argue) doesn’t quite give as much away… we already know there will be spies, assassins, love interests, various locations…

Hey, when in May do they wrap? I agree that a proper trailer (even a super short one)would be ready by July. But, yeah, something like the teaser they did last time would be swell… Still, a year in advance, even for a teaser, is a loooong time, no? Aren’t folks already aware…

I’m going to Comic Con this year (as my wife and I have done every year since 2004), but if they’re holding the event in the infamous Hall H? I doubt I’ll be able to get in unless I’m willing to camp out overnight on the grass outside of the hall (thanks again, Twilight fans; for starting that stupid precedent). You have to be REALLY hardcore to get in. And usually it’s to catch a glimpse of the stars on a giant monitor screen (or onstage, if you’re lucky enough to get within the first 20 rows or so) and a trailer that’ll be on Youtube the next day.

Pathetic if they pull a no-show. Just pathetic. They’ve dragged their feet on this project putting many other things before it. I know they don’t owe us anything but we, the movie goers/product buyers, responded with big bucks making it a success so they benefit from such graciousness should they provide us with insights to the next film at SDCC. Satisfying our curiosity and feeding the frenzy they created makes sense financially for them.

Yeah it does make a lot of sense to treat Star Trek Con fans ahead of Comic Con attendees (some of whom may only be casual fans).

There are no actors from the new movie yet but they have had Zach Quinto and John Cho in past years. Bruce Greenwood was scheduled for one of the Vegas shows but dropped-out at the last minute. We shall see.

I have to agree with the fan thinking that if a movie gets the next one made then that is all that matters from a fan perspective. Still, with the Associated Press bringing out the old saws about Disney only getting half of the ticket sales and $100 million marketing on JOHN CARTER OF MARS ergo no profit for the big D, I have to risk igniting another firestorm of controversy and ask “Would the 2009 STAR TREK pass AP’s profit making scrutiny?”

Or rather, I suppose the real question for me is “Really? Paramount found a reason to go forward with a sequel (even for ST:TMP) but not Disney?” Does U.S. ticket sales really dictate a movie’s success these days?

32. So you’re saying “I know they don’t owe us anything” but they owe us a Comic Con appearance? :) Maybe. But, the movie’s still a year away. And the buzz is already (as always, arguably) there — they don’t have to sell the idea of a not-reboot reboot quite so hard…

I’m not of the “how dare they work on other projects” camp, but I get wanting a movie sooner rather than later. I actually think next year rather than this year might make more sense — there are quite a few big, long-anticipated movies coming out this summer.

I still remember that Star Trek V summer (’89) when everything (Batman, Indiana Jones, The Abyss) came out. Trek V kind of got lost in the shuffle (and, arguably, it wasn’t quite in the same league as its competition or its predecessors).

ps. yeah, in less than two weeks, JC has made $181,639,194 worldwide. You’re right, it’s interesting that AP reported that bit about Disney only getting half the ticket sales — I haven’t heard that reported before when talking about movie profits (which doesn’t mean it hasn’t, but, usually, just gross minus costs is discussed, no?).

You’re right (and I’m not an expert on how these numbers work) about applying it to Trek ’09 — Trek’s production budget was $150 million and its domestic take was $257,730,019 (yep, pasting from Box Office Mojo) — if that were cut in half like the JC numbers, well then…

It’s too bad the reviews were middling and the news stories focused on it bombing because it’s really not that bad at all…

I just watched a news item on TV here a couple of nights ago where a local critic here slammed John Carter because he said mixing the two genres, science-fiction and period pieces doesn’t work. Huh? Given that the original story was written by a guy who lived in the late 19th/early 20th century, then clearly for him it did work. The same silly criticisms were levelled against Cowboys & Aliens as well. Sadly, a lot of people probably don’t think through the brain-dead stupidity that many a well-paid critic will write.

If we are to suspend disbelief that there are alien cultures out there, “thataway”, with advanced technologies, including space faring ones, then it is possible that they could visit earth at any time in our history, including the US outback in the 1800s (Cowboys & Aliens) or in the case of JC, for whatever reason, have aliens transport some humans from the early 20thC onto an alien world… Anything is possible.

@40, 42. You need to consider that JC’s domestic box office has been a bit over 56MM, so if Trek 09 only did 30MM domestically as opposed to 257MM it did make Paramount would have killed the sequel in a hurry. Trek 09 made money, JC never will.

#43
Claiming multiple civilizations existed on Mars, and then just disappeared 150 years ago is a hell of a different stretch than aliens visiting Earth in the 1800s–at least for my suspension of disbelief.